STOMP is a Singapore website which was created with the purpose of allowing Singaporeans to voice out their opinions and comment on the actions of other Singaporeans. The Singapore Seen section is a citizen journalism platform for Singaporeans to contribute news tip-offs, photos and videos. And very sadly, this Singapore Seen section has resulted in a Singaporean taking out his hand phone, snapping a picture of Hwa Chong students in uniform eating an ice cream on the bus, and posting it on Stomp, attracting tons of attention.
Personally, I believe that the entire situation lies in the fault of these students for the plain fact that they brought the ice cream up the bus. It was good that these students was brave enough to step forward to admit their mistakes and face the truth. However, although I do not approve their actions, I still believe that the presence of Stomp itself has caused the entire issue to flare up. In my opinion, I feel that Stomp is a disgrace to the image of Singapore. Go to www.stomp.com.sg and scroll down the home page. What do you see? There are headlines that talk about "Singapore's best love stories", "Meet Singapore's hottest pole dances" and "Grammar ninjas: Spot english errors anywhere!" If a foreigner somehow or rather sees the Stomp website, what image of Singapore do you think the foreigner would have? I am afraid it won't look very good on us.
What scares me the most is that Stomp was not set up by any random Singaporean or Singapore company. It was set up by The Straits Times! The Straits Times which is owned and run by the government! Though I understand that the government is trying to allow Singaporeans to practice their right of freedom of speech, I believe that this is not a good way to do so as it just reflects very badly on Singapore. Who knows, perhaps one reason why The Straits Times set up Stomp was because they just wanted to earn more money and make Singaporeans think that the government is giving them the liberty to have the freedom of speech.
That's just my opinion on Stomp as a whole and I am very sure many out there have same/differing opinions on this issue. And one clarification, I am not criticising the government in any way, just presenting my opinions on the setting up of this internet platform.
Hi Raphael,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your article :)
I agree that it was the people being complained against who is at fault for not being aware of what they were doing in public. Besides that, I also feel that STOMP is not a healthy website as it acts like a complaint board, which is a bad move by the straits times.
However, I feel that this board would not be as bad as it is now if the people using it were of better character. Ultimately, whatever is on STOMP is from the people. It is a sad case that the people choose to pick out individuals and humiliate them on a public platform like that.
In the past, for people to condemn a person, the only way was writing to the straits times and wait for approval. Only articles which are not too harsh are published in the forum section. However with STOMP, many more such articles are written and approvals are less vigorous.
I will conclude by saying this : The people of our country are growing increasingly critical and alert over our actions. The consequences are larger and it is our responsibility to make sure we stay out of these problems.
Regards,
Nicholas
Dear Raphael,
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you regarding the "disgrace" that STOMP is giving the country. What I feel is that firstly, the idea of a "citizen journalism" kind of site is not new. It started during the time of the Romans, where even respectable Roman citizens would gather at the "forum" which was a kind of public square, and they would then turn it into something not unlike a gossip site in today's terms.
However, such a thing is important. It gives the citizens a chance to "govern" their country, if you know what I mean. A country is ruled by its people, not by its king or president. Providing such a site allows both the Government and the people to understand the sentiments of the country and the educational, moral, happiness, etc standards of the people. In a way, I find it very safe in a kind of way to know that our people are human, in that they have the heart to complain and voice outrageous opinion, as well as other things. This is not a mere reflection of our country, but also of our people. Furthermore, I feel that the way you try to simulate the thoughts of a foreigner is faulty. All countries in the world, be it Third world of First world, have something like this. Whether it is set up by the government or the people, whether it is online or physical, whether it is written in English or Chinese does not matter. It is human nature to want to gripe in such a way. A foreigner will not think it surprising.
Regards,
Yap Jian Shern